Iconographic Analysis: The Meeting of the Lord at the Temple

The LORD said to
Moses, “Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the
womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

(Book of Exodus,
Chapter 15)

According to the
Mosaic law recorded in Exodus, the first-born son of every observant Jew should
be dedicated to God in the Temple at Jerusalem forty days after his birth,
where the mother would also complete her ritual purification. Forty days after
the birth of Christ is celebrated, and bringing the Nativity cycle of feasts to
a close, the dedication of the infant Jesus is remembered as the Feast of the
Presentation (or Meeting, or Dedication) of the Lord in the Temple, known in
the West as Candlemas, on Feb 2/15.

Beneath the mere
outward act of submission to the Mosaic law by Ss Joseph, Mary, and Jesus lays
an epochal point in the history of our salvation. This deeper meaning is
revealed in the icons of this feast.

The story of
Christ’s dedication in the Temple is described in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 2:
22-40). The elderly St Symeon, described in hymns as a “priest”, is inspired by
the Holy Spirit to take up the Christ-child in His arms and declare: “Lord, now
let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen
Your salvation.” Symeon’s recognition of baby Jesus as the Messiah is shown in
his deep reverence: bowing low and holding Christ with covered hands. Christ
Himself is shown as actively blessing those present, appearing as Lord and
Saviour, rather than a helpless babe-in-arms.

The Mother of God
has just given her Son into the arms of Symeon, whilst nearby is Anna,
recognizable as a prophetess by the scroll she holds: sometimes closed,
sometimes open. Completing the scene is Joseph, who brings a sacrificial
offering to the Temple. In Leviticus, it states that forty days after the birth
of the first-born son, the mother must bring a lamb and a turtledove to the
priest as a burnt-offering. “And if she is not able to bring a lamb [i.e. she
is too poor], then she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons–one as a
burnt offering and the other as a sin offering.” (Lev 12:8) Joseph is shown
with two turtledoves, reinforcing the humble background into which Christ was
born. He carries the turtledoves on behalf of Mary, the Mother, which reminds
us that despite the doubts described in the Nativity Icon, Joseph is finally
reconciled to his betrothed and trusts the infant Jesus to be truly the
Messiah.

The Jewish Temple
transformed into the Christian Church

The scene takes
place in the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, which was not merely the main
temple of Judaism, but the only temple of the Jewish faith. As is normal for
classic iconography, the scene appears to occur in the open, not concealed by
walls, with the outside of the Temple shown in the background. The icon of the
Presentation is dominated by a four-pillared dome, which was an architectural
feature of the inside of the Temple. It is a ciborium, in Greek a kivorion
(κιβωριου) – a canopy contained in the sanctuary.

Before the building
of the Temple, from the time of Moses, the Hebrews had the Tabernacle, which
contained the Ten Commandments given to Moses, the manna from Heaven, and an
altar. This portable structure was the holy place in which the presence of God
was manifest. After the nation of Israel was established, King Solomon built
the Temple to house the Ten Commandments and the other contents of the
Tabernacle. A permanent tabernacle was created within the Temple, the
sanctuary, and this is what is depicted as a ciborium.

But the ciborium in
the icon is not the tabernacle of the Temple of Solomon, which was destroyed
within 50 years of Christ’s dedication there. The altar in the icon is behind
two gates, reminiscent of Royal Doors. Upon the altar are not the stone tablets
of Moses, but a Gospel book that contains the New Testament. Sometimes the
altar cloth is conspicuously decorated with the Christian cross; highly anachronistic,
yet reminding us of the real significance of the event: not the observance of
the old Mosaic law, but the fulfillment of it in Christ’s incarnation. The
ciborium itself was a common feature of first millennium churches, covering the
altar and having curtains to veil the consecrated host at particular times of
the Liturgy. The icon of the Presentation is therefore clearly and consciously
depicting Solomon’s Temple as a Christian church, though this is sometimes lost
today when ciborium’s are not as common in church architecture.

With this
“transformation” in mind, it is no coincidence that the infant Christ appears
to be handed to St Symeon over the altar. Just as the stone tablets are
transformed, in the icon, into a Gospel-book, so too is the heavenly manna of
the Jewish tabernacle transformed into the life-giving Lamb of God, Jesus
Christ: a food also of divine origin, but inexhaustible, alive, and granting
eternal life (see also The Lamb of God in Orthodoxy, the section on the
melismos). Here, the references to St Symeon as “priest” are entirely
appropriate, regardless of his actual role at the Temple in Jerusalem, as in
the icon he receives the infant Jesus as the life-giving, sacrificial offering
at the Christian liturgy. St Joseph even appears like a deacon attending to
Symeon, shown in the same posture of supplication as the angels in the head
banner of this website, who are painted with a deacon’s vestments.

At the Theophany,
we learn that Jesus did not need to receive the baptism of repentance from John
in the river Jordan; Christ willingly did this to purify the waters, nature,
and the ritual of baptism itself. Likewise, Christ did not need to be offered
to the God Who begot Him, nor did any sacrifice for purification need to be
given for He Who is spotless. Jesus entered the Temple not to be purified, but
to purify others: Ss Symeon, Anna, and the whole system of Jewish worship. The
passing away of animal sacrifices, the Mosaic Law, and Jewish Temple worship,
were all heralded with Christ’s dedication, forty days after His birth. This
feast, coming at the end of the winter Feast of Lights, usually occurs close to
the beginning of Lent, when the pure sacrifice of “a contrite heart” is
required of us, rather than the burnt offerings done away with with the advent
of Christ.

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